APPLE GALETTE WITH PINE NUTS AND CANDIED LEMON

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Serves 6-8

from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

We have been invited to have dinner with friends. They’ve recently moved into a new house that they designed and built. She’s put her heart and soul into it and it shows. He is an excellent cook and made grilled strip steak with jalapeno twice baked potatoes and mixed green salad. My responsibility was dessert. As it turned out, our baby sitter got sick, so we brought the children as well. In their pajamas, they piled into our hosts bed with their son to watch movies while we enjoyed a great meal.

One of our hosts making his twice baked potatoes – delicious

The counter top on the island is made from old hard wood floor – beautiful

The main course: grilled strip steak, mixed green salad, and twice baked potatoes with jalapenos. The mother of our hostess is a talented painter whose large canvases are displayed in the dining room.

With only desert to do, I wanted to make something a little different. I love making tarts, especially galettes because they are easy for messy people like myself. A galette is an open-faced pie. The dough is free-form. You just roll it out onto a surface, pile your fruit in the middle, and then loosely drape the dough over the fruit. There is no crimping or fussy weaving. The only thing you have to do to make it good is make your own dough and use good fruit.

In selecting the type of galette, I debated between pear and apple. I was drawn to this recipe for apple galette because it is more than just apples. It has the addition of candied lemons and pine nuts and it is served with a “tangy” whipped cream. I thought it sounded good and homey but with a little pizazz. If you are looking for something quick and easy, make something else. Although each step is simple, it does take lots of time. I justified it because this was my only contribution to the evening and because there is just something so wonderful about a homemade tart.

THE GALETTE

Candied lemon, see recipe below
Galette Dough, see recipe below
1 1/2 – 2 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and halved (use Granny Smith, Gala, McIntosh, or Jonathon)
1/3 cup golden raisins or currants
2 Tbsp sweet sherry or Calvados
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp butter, melted
Tangy Whipped Cream, see recipe below

1. MAKE CANDIED LEMONS: follow recipe, below.

2. MAKE DOUGH: follow recipe, below, then roll out into a large circle, 1/8-inch thick, and then set it on the back of a baking pan without sides. Preheat oven to 400.

3. MAKE FILLING: Thinly slice half of the apples crosswise. Put into a large bowl and toss with currants, sherry, pine nuts, 4 tsp of the sugar, and the cinnamon. Finely chop the remaining apples, then toss with 4 tsp of sugar. Mound finely chopped apples in the center of the dough in a 7-inch circle. Arrange sliced apples on top of the chopped apples. Add juice from the bowl. Cut about half the lemon slices in half and tuck them in among the apple slices.

4. FOLD DOUGH AND BAKE: Fold the edges of the dough over the fruit, pleating it as you go, so that the apples are partially covered. Brush dough with some of the melted butter and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Pour any extra butter over the apples. Bake until crust is glazed and apples are tender, about 45 minutes. To remove the tart from the pan, tilt the far edge of the tart toward the serving plate, the lower the pan, still tilted, nearly all the way down. Use a spatula and carefully slide the tart onto the plate. The goal is not to crack it. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of Tangy Whipped Cream.

CANDIED LEMON SLICES

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 lemons, thinly sliced

1. BOIL – Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small heavy saucepan. Add lemons and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes. Let cool, then transfer to a covered container. These will keep for about a month, refrigerated.

GALETTE DOUGH

2 cups all-purpose flour or whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
12 Tbsp cold, undslated butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 – 1/2 cup ice water as needed

1. MIX DOUGH: In a large bowl, mix flour, slat, and sugar. Using your hands or a mixer with a paddle attachment, cut in the butter until the texture resembles peas. Sprinkle ice water over the top by the tablespoon and then toss it with with flour mixture just until the dough comes together to form a ball. Press it into a disc. The butter has probably softened, so refrigerate the disc for 15 minutes.

2. ROLL OUT: Lightly flour your counter top and roll out dough into a 14-inch irregular circle about 1/8-inch thick. Fold it into quarters and transfer it to the back of a baking sheet without sides. Unfold it; it will be larger than the pan. It is ready for your filling. Just leave a 2-4-inch border. Proceed with galette recipe, above.

Dough in the process of being rolled out to 1/8-inch thick.

TANGY WHIPPED CREAM

Note: Whipped cream is very easy to make, but if you’ve run out of energy at this point, buy store-bought or serve the tart with vanilla ice cream.

1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 Tbsp light brown sugar or powdered sugar or to taste
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. BEAT: In a mixing bowl, combine cream and creme friache and beat until it forms soft, billowy peaks. Add sugar and vanilla and mix just until combined. Refrigerate until serving time.

Peace and love from my kitchen to yours,
Waverly